Jerry Lee
05-06-2009, 12:32 PM
Funny how one of the most colorful characters in Colorado Figure 8 history always came in black & white. Whether in diagonal B&W painted cars, or a big white stripe down the middle, Skunkie became a Denver racing legend.
Dig the Skunk in these highlights from a 1997 phone interview:
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JL: "Where did you get that nickname 'Skunkie'?"
BG: "Well, when I was about 16 my first car was a '41 Ford coupe that was black and white. Some friends of mine started calling me Skunkie, and it stayed with me."
JL: "How did you first start driving the 8's?"
BG: "I ran a few Demolition Derbies at Lakeside in '66 and I was a mechanic for the Morrison Garage. The boss gave me a '50 Chevy and we took it out to Englewood and totaled it the second night."
JL: "I think you're the only driver around here to pull off a clean sweep in three different divisions in one night."
BG:"Boy, we cleaned house that night! Man, I don't know what it was, but we just won everything we got in. I took the fast time, trophy dash, fast heat, and won the main in my Figure Eighter. And with my Late Model I won the slow heat and the semi. Then we took 'Ma Skunk' out and won the 85 car Demo Derby."
JL: "Who was fun to race with on the 8?"
BG: "Junior Reeder, Tommy Darrow, Lee Stogsdill. Now those guys, you beat them and you're doing good. But, you can't be afraid of anyone, y'know? You don't have any fear or you wouldn't be out there."
JL: "I've seen you crawl from some horrific wrecks...."
BG: "I don't want to talk about those."
JL: "No?"
BG: "My ball joint busted once, and the tire went down and the A frame caught the pavement. I flipped six and a half times down the straight. I got battery acid in my eyes when it was upside down. I cracked some ribs, cracked my elbow, my hand and my knee and my foot got crushed. I really got hurt that night."
JL: "But you guys were tough, you probably had a car out there the very next week."
BG: "Oh yeah, never missed. I got four years of perfect attendance awards."
JL: "After a great career for many years at Englewood, you just sort of gave it up mid-season '74 and never looked back. Do you miss it at all?"
BG: "No, not really."
JL: "You really don't miss it?"
BG: "No!"
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Dig the Skunk in these highlights from a 1997 phone interview:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JL: "Where did you get that nickname 'Skunkie'?"
BG: "Well, when I was about 16 my first car was a '41 Ford coupe that was black and white. Some friends of mine started calling me Skunkie, and it stayed with me."
JL: "How did you first start driving the 8's?"
BG: "I ran a few Demolition Derbies at Lakeside in '66 and I was a mechanic for the Morrison Garage. The boss gave me a '50 Chevy and we took it out to Englewood and totaled it the second night."
JL: "I think you're the only driver around here to pull off a clean sweep in three different divisions in one night."
BG:"Boy, we cleaned house that night! Man, I don't know what it was, but we just won everything we got in. I took the fast time, trophy dash, fast heat, and won the main in my Figure Eighter. And with my Late Model I won the slow heat and the semi. Then we took 'Ma Skunk' out and won the 85 car Demo Derby."
JL: "Who was fun to race with on the 8?"
BG: "Junior Reeder, Tommy Darrow, Lee Stogsdill. Now those guys, you beat them and you're doing good. But, you can't be afraid of anyone, y'know? You don't have any fear or you wouldn't be out there."
JL: "I've seen you crawl from some horrific wrecks...."
BG: "I don't want to talk about those."
JL: "No?"
BG: "My ball joint busted once, and the tire went down and the A frame caught the pavement. I flipped six and a half times down the straight. I got battery acid in my eyes when it was upside down. I cracked some ribs, cracked my elbow, my hand and my knee and my foot got crushed. I really got hurt that night."
JL: "But you guys were tough, you probably had a car out there the very next week."
BG: "Oh yeah, never missed. I got four years of perfect attendance awards."
JL: "After a great career for many years at Englewood, you just sort of gave it up mid-season '74 and never looked back. Do you miss it at all?"
BG: "No, not really."
JL: "You really don't miss it?"
BG: "No!"
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